Non-profit Community Spotlight
Centennial, Inc. works with a range of people from a variety of companies, but something they all have in common is education. This is perhaps a taken-for-granted reality for most of us. However, in our Cincinnati community there is a great disparity in the ability of at-risk children to learn and experience the world. Sheryl McClung McConney recognized this and created Envision Children, a non-profit organization enriching the minds and lives of youth in Greater Cincinnati through different tutoring platforms. Their educational enrichment programs like Power Saturday Programming and the Academic Summer Enrichment Program, engage students from Pre-K to 7th grade encouraging them to explore new avenues to learning math, science, reading, and writing.
It is not a simple process though.
How does environment affect these students? What is the terrain where teachers meet children today? Is it a lush jungle, full of life, where it is easy to find resources to prosper, but the dense forest is keeping us from making progress? Or is it a desert, dry and harsh, where each day is a struggle for the resources we need? “I think I agree with C.S. Lewis: The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts,” says Garner, Envision’s Chairman of the Board, President and Founder. Thus, Envision Children desires to impact the students’ academic culture so dramatically that education will become a top priority in each student’s life through engagement in real life learning where students see how their education benefits them through interactive and fun activities. The roles of the teacher are now multiple: tilling the land, sowing the seeds, cultivating the crop, and hopefully watching it grow. Tutors see how children blossom when they have opportunities to experience a world that is larger than the one they have at home, moving outside of TV, video games and the virtual reality of this generation.
Through Envision, children learn about polarity from simply playing with magnets; understand percentages by decorating a picture frame; explore sound with tongs and water; see chemical reactions by constructing and erupting a volcano; and lift objects by building pulleys. The children did the MATH for the experience. They READ information to prepare for the experience. They WROTE about their experience. But the best part is that through Envision’s programs, they HAD the experience.
The importance of education is undeniable. We want to highlight and thank Envision Children for making education possible for so many children in our area. It goes without being said that their impact is not only making a difference today but is shaping and creating the leaders of tomorrow. Be a part of their mission by supporting them today.
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